


Lived and Loved Together

by Mara



Category: Power Rangers Dino Charge
Genre: F/F, Museums
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 15:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8061037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara/pseuds/Mara
Summary: Paleontology is not all dirt and bones, you know.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rivulet027](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/gifts).



> I've worked on a museum exhibit in my checkered career, but alas, never under such interesting circumstances.

Shelby glared at the foam core that was supposed to hold panel five of the new exhibit on the Cretaceous period in California. At least, it _was_ going to hold panel five until she managed to screw up cutting and gluing everything down. Again.

"Other museums," she muttered, "have specialists and better equipment than X-Actos and foam core."

"Other museums," Kendall said from the other side of the table, "have a budget that extends past foam core and X-Acto blades."

Sighing, Shelby bent over and carefully pulled back the thick paper she'd been gluing before the spray glue dried.

"Besides, the budget went toward getting proper mounting for the artifacts. You know we couldn't skimp when it came to the bones."

Shelby hunched her shoulders a bit more and kept her eyes focused on her work.

"Aaaaand," Kendall said slowly. "That's not what's bothering you."

Shelby freed the paper and tossed the foam core aside, pulling over the measuring tape again. She was going to get this right if it killed her.

"Shelby."

She lightly penciled in the measurements on a new piece of foam core.

"Shelby."

Then she overlaid the paper again, just in case. It looked like it was right.

"Shelby!"

"What?!" There was silence and Shelby stared down at the foam core, feeling utterly ridiculous.

"Could you look at me, please?" Kendall said.

Shelby bristled at Kendall's gentle tone. She wasn't a _baby_ …even if she was acting like one. Sighing, she looked up.

"Now…can you tell me what _is_ bothering you? You've been acting weird…wait, you haven't been replaced by a monster, have you?" Kendall put a hand to her mouth in mock horror.

She couldn't help the giggle that slipped out. "No, I'm me. Grumpy, but me."

"Okay, now that we have that settled…" Kendall put down her own tools and looked at her for a long moment. "Come here."

Slowly, Shelby stood and walked around the table covered in paper and foam core and sharp objects, feeling like an unruly student going to talk to the teacher.

"Hey."

"Hey." Shelby sighed and looked up.

Kendall frowned, then awkwardly held out her hands. "Er, I'm supposed to hug you. I think."

Rolling her eyes, Shelby stepped forward and put her arms around Kendall's shoulders, resting her check on the other woman's head. She felt kind of ridiculous but she couldn't deny that it also felt…nice. Warm and stuff. Even if Kendall was kinda terrible at this girlfriend stuff, she did try.

"Now are you ready to tell me what the problem is? After all this, you can't have suddenly decided you're not interested in dinosaurs."

"No!" Shelby pulled back, staring. 

"I thought you were excited about this exhibit. You _were_ excited."

Shelby closed her eyes.

"Please tell me."

Unable to resist Kendall when she took the time to actually ask nicely, Shelby opened her eyes and looked down. "You sent everyone else out."

Frowning again, Kendall nodded. "Yes, chasing down that signal that keeps coming and going."

"You sent everyone but me."

Kendall nodded slowly.

"Same as last night."

Kendall started to nod. "Wait…do you think I don't trust you to investigate?"

Face feeling warm, Shelby didn't answer. 

"Or that I was trying to protect you?"

Shelby looked away.

"Oh my god, no. No, of course not. You have to believe me, I know that you can take care of yourself. And I know you're probably better than the guys at tracking."

"Why then?"

Kendall blinked up at her. "You were excited about the exhibit."

Eyebrows shooting up, Shelby shook her head. "I was excited about research and digging for the exhibit. You were…" Stopping, she looked at Kendall, an idea percolating.

Kendall rushed to fill the gap. "This is part of the experience, though. I would be remiss if I didn't teach you about mounting the exhibit as w—"

"Oh my god," Shelby covered her mouth with one hand. "This is a date!"

"No! Of course not!" Kendall stopped, pursing her lips. "Wait, that doesn't sound right."

"I should have known, since your idea of a good date is driving to Palo Alto to pick up arti—"

"You begged to come with me!"

Shelby considered that. "Fair point, I did."

They lapsed into silence for a long moment and Shelby put her arms back around Kendall. 

"Are you…so we're okay now?" Kendall asked eventually.

Shelby rubbed her cheek against Kendall's hair again, wishing this was the right time to pull it down and play with it. "I guess."

"That was certainly rousing enthusiasm. Pardon me while I pat myself on the back for my astute observational abilities."

Shelby snickered.

"In all seriousness, please tell me what else is going on."

"It's dumb."

"I'm certain it's not, if it's bothering you this much." Kendall's hand gently stroked her back.

Shelby sighed, turning her head to look at the work table full of supplies. Taking a deep breath, she got the sentence out in a long rush. "I'm so far behind you it feels like I'm never going to catch up." Kendall didn't say anything and Shelby fought back a tear. "See, I told you it—"

"Wait, hang on." Shelby could feel Kendall take a deep breath. "You don't…I'm not…I don't know how to say this."

"It's okay," Shelby said.

"It's not. I didn't know you felt that way. It's important. Just give me a moment."

Shelby felt the tears in her eyes again and she scrubbed them away angrily. This was why she didn't want to talk about this stuff. She hated being girly and emotional and…ugh.

"Shelby," Kendall said, sounding very hesitant, which was unlike her. "Could you look at me?"

She resisted for a moment, not wanting to let go, but eventually she pulled back, looking down at Kendall.

"It's not a question of catching up. It's not!" Kendall seemed to sense that Shelby was about to argue with her. "For so many reasons, I've never thought of it that way. I'm older than you. My parents supported my decision to become a paleontologist from the first. I had opportunities and internships that you didn't."

"I have the opportunity now."

"And you're taking it." Kendall grabbed her hands and held on. "You're learning and growing and that's everything. Maybe you'll never come to exactly the same point I'm at, but that's _okay_. Maybe you'll surpass me, for all we know."

Shelby snorted.

"In your position, I would have given up and gone into business. I would be an ice cream heiress and bored out of my gourd. I would never have had the nerve to find a place the way you did." Kendall smiled up at her. "I'll admit I was irritated at first, but now I'm just impressed. Impressed by your nerve and your drive."

Face warm, Shelby looked away. "Oh."

"You don't need to catch up, because we're different people and our paths are never going to be exactly the same."

"Oh," Shelby said again, when she couldn't find any other words.

"Yes, oh." Kendall pulled her close again.

"Um…I guess we should finish the exhibit text then, huh?" Shelby said, reluctantly.

"It's that or doing the eighteenth consecutive sweep of the area looking for that stray signal."

Shelby looked over at the work table and sighed.

"It's not _that_ bad," Kendall said.

"I think I'm going to have nightmares about being chased down the street by foam core."

Kendall snorted out a laugh and gently pushed her away. "Get to work."

"Yes, ma'am." Shelby saluted her wonderful girlfriend.

Rolling her eyes, Kendall said, "That's Kendall to you."

"Yes, Miss Morgan."

"Oh my god."

Shelby laughed all the way back to her seat.

\--end--


End file.
